From: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze)
Subject: Wrestling TidBits - 06/22
Date: 1995/06/23
Message-ID:
X-Deja-AN: 104852370
sender: news@watdragon.uwaterloo.ca (USENET News System)
organization: University of Waterloo
newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling
- WCW's Great American Bash took place this past Sunday. With the fear of
a low buy rate looming, the company resorted to having Hulk Hogan appear
during the live pre-game show and spent a fair bit of the pre-game
hyping the Vader vs. Hulk Hogan feud (which will have it's blow-off
match at the Bash at the Beach PPV in July). They went so far as to
suggest that Vader & Hogan might not be able to wait for the next show
to end their feud. It was cheesy and cheap, but not as bad as some ploys
that we've seen in pro-wrestling in recent years. The Bash PPV was
highlighted by a pretty good match between Alex Wright & Brian Pillman,
although Alex winning the match left one wondering a little.
- As you think about how bad the Renegade vs. Arn Anderson match was,
just think about the WWF TV taping dark match with Waylon Mercy
(Dan Spivey) vs. Tekno Team 2000's Troy (Erik Watts). IMO, that
sounds even worse on paper.
- The WWF has King of the Ring this Sunday. The line-up has:
- Sid & Tantanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Diesel
- Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler (loser kisses winner's feet)
- King of the Ring Tourney:
Mabel --\
|--\
Undertaker --/ \
|--\
Shawn Michaels --\ / \
|--/ \
Kama --/ \
|--- King of The Ring
Bob Holly --\ /
|--\ /
Roadie --/ \ /
|--/
Razor Ramon --\ /
|--/
Yokozuna --/
There is a lot of talk that many of the key WWF performers may still
be suffering from nagging injuries and may even have to miss the show,
so this line-up might likely suffer some shuffling, or the audience
will suffer some really poor matches. Injured include (in order of
importance for this show):
- Diesel - elbow, bone chip surgery resulted in infection
- Tatanka - nagging knee trouble
- Razor Ramon - bruised ribs
- Owen Hart - concussion
- Roadie - staphylococcal infection in the knee
- 1-2-3 Kid - concussion
There are rumours that Shawn Michaels, the expected winner of the
KotR tourney and probably shining star of the show, will *not* win
the tournament. Speculation has had either Mabel, Roadie, or Yokozuna.
- Before you laugh at the ludicrous idea of pushing the Roadie as the
winner of the KotR tournament, the eventual story line will be that
Jeff Jarrett's successful singing career (we will hear him sing at
the second "In Your House" show) was built on the voice of the Roadie,
leading to a feud between the two. Somehow, talk goes, giving the
Roadie a push now will make his challenge of Jarrett seem more
believable later on.
- WCW's new, occasionally live show will start on Ted Turner's TNT channel
on 08/07. As mentioned last week, the idea for the show is indeed being
credited to Turner himself, with most saying that he revels the chance to
go head-up against the WWF's Monday Night RAW show. There is some cause
for hope for those that dislike the direction that WCW has taken since
last year -- the show's success could likely make or break Eric Bischoff.
- The Observer had a reasonably long column about ECW's current situation,
talking about the potential loss of Chris Benoit (to WWF?) and Shane
Douglas, and the apparently serious financial woes the company has
been suffering for some time. "With the exception of a few shows at
the ECW Arena, the group has yet to draw 1000 paid to a show. Although
Gordon and Heyman both downplay this aspect, those in the periphery
of the promotion talk about the group having lost a considerable amount
of money with no turnaround in site [sic], pointing to the debts as
proof."
- The next UFC is slated for 07/14/95.
- WCW has another PPV on 07/16/95. This is the show that will take place
on a beach with free admission. Tentative line-up includes:
- Hulk Hogan vs. Vader for the WCW Title in a cage match
- Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage
- Nasty Boys vs. Blue Bloods vs. Harlem Heat in a traingular tag match
for the WCW Tag Titles
*- Sting vs. Meng for the US Title
- Paul Orndorff vs. Renegade for the TV Title
*- Diamond Dallas Page vs. Dave Sullivan
- Jim Duggan vs. Kamala
And here you were hoping that those last two matches above (originally
slated for the just-completed Great American Bash) had been dumped in
the booking wastebucket...
- The WWF has the second "In Your House" PPV on 07/23/95. Tentative
line-up has:
- Diesel vs. Sid for the WWF Title
- WCW will air a taped PPV on 08/04/95 featuring matches from the
New Japan trip to Korea. The show will be cheaply priced at $12.95.
Tentative line-up:
- Antonio Inoki vs. Ric Flair
- Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Hiro Hase & Kensuke Sasaki
- Hawk vs. Tadao Yasuda
- Bull Nakano vs. Akira Hokuto
- Scott Norton & Masa Chono vs. Akira Nogami & Takayuki Iizuka
- Wild Pegasus vs. Too Cold Scorpio
- Black Cat vs. El Samurai
- Hiro Saito vs. Yuji Nagata
- The WWF has SummerSlam on 08/27/95.
- WCW will air a "UFC-style" PPV on 09/01/95.
- Interview: This is the second part of an interview with 2 Cold Scorpio
from the defunct Wrestling Flyer. I have recevied word that editor John
Clark is happy that his work is being shared with readers on the net.
The interview took place on 01/01/94.
Clark: Is there any reason that you know of as to why you weren't on
the recent pay-per-views before you departed the company?
Scorpio: I couldn't really understand it because I thought being how
me and Marcus was the hottest tag team that they had going on, and it
was just a matter if they wanted to push us or not, that we could have
went in any direction. I thought that we should have been on some of
the pay-per-views for the simple fact that they really didn't have so
much of an eye-grabber that the people really were intense about
really wanting to see. A lot of times the people love to see the great
matches, but then again, they love to see somebody that goes in there
high-flying and doing a little something different. So in my opinion,
I think we should have been on them and I don't know why we weren't.
We never did hear anything through the grapevine and we didn't have
any heat with anybody that I know of, so it's really hard to say. Then
again, it just could have been the way that they had things going; so
many new faces, so many new talents, so many new people trying to come
in.
Clark: The unofficial response from WCW regarding your departure was
that you failed several drug tests. Is that accurate?
Scorpio: Yeah, it is. The drug trest was strictly under marijuana
usage. I never did hard drugs, nothing like that. But then again, that
comes back to what you choose to do in your leisure time. Being how it
is still an illegal drug, although it isn't as bad as some of the
others, it's still an illegal drug. The policy was that it had to be
under a certain level and on the third test it wasn't under, it was
over by like seventy-two points or whatever. Any way you look at it, I
failed it so I have to suffer the consequences. Right now I was in the
process of maybe trying to go back in a year or so, so I still need to
talk to them and see because when I left everything was still on good
terms. It wasn't like there was a whole lot of dirt kicked up.
Clark: Do you think that you have selectively been picked out on this?
Scorpio: Yeah, I do. Me and a couple of other guys that I choose to
not use their names felt that we was more or less randomly picked on
because of the simple fact that I think a lot of the guys are scared
of somebody that has the ability and the talent to be a great star.
And when somebody else doesn't really want you to be there, then they
tend to pick on you a little bit. That's what me and a couple of the
other guys kind of felt. But then again, it was just a matter if I
felt like that, then I should have done something else. So I'm not
going to really want to say a whole lot on that.
Clark: But it is a known fact that others in the company fail tests
and get away with it without suspension or dismissal.
Scorpio: Right. There were several guys I know offhand that they
signed and that they knew was on steroids and on whatever else, and
they knew it and they still signed them. This is the thing that gets
me. Not only that, I know that over more than seventy-five percent of
the office smokes pot. So it's not like that's a really big issue.
Even if you quit, marijuana does stay in your system up to four years,
depending on how you consume it.
Clark: Isn't marijuana a pretty common drug in the sports world?
Scorpio: It is. If you had a choice of having your kid out there doing
crack, drinking, or whatever, or smoking a joint, you would much
rather have him smoking a joint. You ain't got to worry about anybody
out there smoking dope and running over somebody. You ain't heard of
anybody killing anybody. I've always been against any other types of
drugs, but I never went to a drug seminar or I never gave a drug
speech to any kids because with me still smoking pot I thought that
just wasn't right. I was always for "no guns," "stop the violence,"
"do not do drugs," but I could never say anything about pot because I
knew what I was doing on my own.
Clark: Do you think it's fair for a guy that is in the public eye and
is a role model to kids to profess clean living and everything when
they are not abiding by that in their own personal lives?
Scorpio: I think it's important to put the word out there, but I also
believe in if you're not living by it yourself then you shouldn't go
out there and preach that to somebody else. And nine out of ten times
the guys that you've got up there doing it are usually on steroids or
some kind of drug or some kind of amphetamine because that's just how
the business runs. The thing that got me the most is, I can understand
if it was coming down to a point where it was affecting my ability in
the ring to perform or not keep up or put up, but it was never like
that. It was always still there's so many guys there that they have
that they're pushing and half the guys can't even lace your boots.
Clark: It seems you're in a situation where there's nothing you can
really do about it unless you want to maybe burn a bridge or the like.
Scorpio: Right. And I'm not so much into burning bridges because other
than that I felt they were messing with us a little bit more about the
ones who smoked, but then again I know there's so many guys that smoke
that's been there for so long and have tested positive for it and are
still there. I just don't think that's fair, only because they're the
top guys and that's who they want.
Clark: How would you describe WCW's dedication or lack of it to their
drug testing policy regarding steroids?
Scorpio: The thing is, usually when a test comes out so many people
know in advance that they have plenty of time to clear up before they
even know about the test. Therefore, they're not going to hardly ever
get a chance to really catch anybody. Then when you have somebody in
the office who's forewarning the boys too, then it really doesn't
help. Especially when I would like to see a few of the top guys maybe
give up steroids a few times so they could see they ain't all what
they think they are. Then I would feel a lot better about a few
things. I do have that one thing against me, but I'm not on roids and
I don't drink and I've always been able to hold myself in a
respectable way wherever I go, whether it be Germany, Japan, or
whatever. And I've always been more or less for WCW. Crowd drawer,
crowd pleaser, if you really want to draw the money, do what you've
got to do to do it. I'm saying don't be scared to do it. Me, myself, I
felt that they were scared to do it. That's why I ended up being in a
tag team because they never really had any plans for me as a single
and didn't know what direction to send me or because I was moving up
the ladder too fast.
Clark: What experience have you had with steroids?
Scorpio: None. Never tried them, never took them. I had a few guys
offer, a few guys tell me to try it, a few guys tell me I could bulk
up twenty or thirty pounds. But the thing is, I've always been a
natural athlete. I believe in that prime time, good eating, mom's
old-time good cooking, a little training, a little hard work. If
you're going to get big naturally, then that's what you need to do,
and not on gas, because it does have the side effects and I just
choose not to deal with that.
Clark: Was there an atmosphere at WCW with a lot of the guys there
being huge that steroids were acceptable or maybe even needed to
survive in a good position with that company?
Scorpio: At one given point in time you used to see a lot of big guys
around but now with the drug test you see a lot of guys coming and
going, coming and going, you know, shrinking and coming back,
shrinking and coming back. There never really was a whole lot of
tests, but when all of a sudden everything went down with the WWF,
everybody wants to be careful now. So I think they're getting a little
bit more strict with it and I think if they do a few more pop quizzes,
pop tests on people then they'll find a lot more dirt on folks.
Clark: With a guy like you who's kind of on the smaller side compared
to some of the other big guys there, do you find it unfair that some
of those guys are allowed to get away with doing steroids?
Scorpio: Yeah, I think it's real unfair. Then again, like I said,
they're strictly trying to go by policy which I can understand that
too. But then again, you'd be amazed on how many times you can look
past that policy if you really want somebody. So my choice is, did
they really want me or was I just somebody else who was just there.
Because they have so many guys coming and going, you never know, but I
would like to know ahead of time and not be done out, say, behind the
back or whatever, if that was the case.
Clark: How then were you informed that you were being dismissed?
Scorpio: As a matter of fact, I had heard through a grapevine from
Marcus who said he had heard something from a couple boys that I was
done. He asked if I took a drug test lately. I told him, "Yeah, they
came back to me with a test last week." I went over to the Caribbean
Islands and everybody was over there. When I got back, I was the only
guy who went to the test from the Caribbean. First of all, I thought
that was unfair because there were several guys I was there with who I
partied with, so therefore I thought that I was snitched on.
Clark: So how did they actually tell you that you were being let go?
Scorpio: They didn't. I had to call the office and ask them what was
going on. I said that I was trying to find out some test results. I
called Gary Juster and he told me, "Didn't you get a certified letter
in the mail?" I said, "No, I have not received nothing." And he said,
"Well, yeah, you have been terminated. Your third test came back
positive." And I said, "Well, I sure would have liked it if somebody
had the courtesy to be man enough to call me and tell me that my test
came back positive and that they let me go, instead of waiting for me
to receive something in the mail." Because I still had an opportunity
to get on the Japan junior tournament, which I've been on every year
for the last two years, and I have never missed it. This year was the
first year that New Japan did not book me on it because I had to give
up my rights to New Japan to sign with them. I still could have gotten
on the junior tournament, so I felt really bad about that because I
could have gotten on that May tour. Then I ended up calling Bill Shaw
in his office and I asked him what was going on and what was the deal.
He said, "Yeah, everybody here in the office was real shocked, real
surprised to hear. We really didn't want to let you go but we had to
let you go because your third test came back positive." And I said, "I
would have appreciated it if somebody would have called and told me."
And he goes, "You were supposed to get a certified letter." I said
that I had not received it and that it's been over a week since I did
the test. He said, "Okay, well, we'll send something out to you the
next day." Then I started talking to him, asking him about the
contract. So that means everything is now void. I don't have any ties,
no nothing, I can work for whoever. Because a lot of times when they
fire you they have those clauses you can't work for thirty or sixty
days. So I wanted to make sure that I was released and everything, so
that's basically the reason I was calling and getting in touch with
them. Other than that, they didn't even tell me. And then two or three
days later I ended up getting a Federal Express package with a letter
which wasn't even from a lawyer. It said that I was terminated due to
a third drug test coming back positive. I mean I can understand if it
came back positive for like cocaine, steroids, or anything like real
sniff-ins. I told them, if you look at even the history of marijuana,
it stays in your system. And if you've been smoking it as long as I
have and of a high-grade, it's not going to be able to get out of your
system in thirty days.
Clark: So these tests that you had to take were basically done on a
random basis?
Scorpio: I failed one test and then I failed another one, and I went
to a class for it. They made me and another guy go to class and pay
two thousand dollars to go to a drug class. The drug class never
pertained to weed, didn't even talk about weed. The class was
basically on alcohol and sex addiction and everything else but
marijuana. So we ended up paying two thousand dollars to go around and
sit around for this which didn't do anything for us, and still ended
up having to pay the office and stuff. Then after that they were still
taking the money out of my check and still wanted to test me all the
time for it. I'm like, "Come on, I'm paying you money and I went to
the school. I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do, and I can wrestle
with anybody, I can work with anybody you put me up against, and I
sell and put them over, so it doesn't matter. The thing is, it's
something that I do when I'm at home and I'm away from the business."
I mean I could have put the test off, I could have went in and got a
gimmick, I could have had my kids do it, but I'm straight, and I felt
if I went in and did the things that I was doing, I was going to
suffer the consequences. When I was talking to Bill, I asked him how
long I needed to wait or what my chances were of coming back or what I
needed to do. He goes, "There's always a possibility in maybe in six,
seven months you could come back. Maybe you ought to wait a year or
two before you decide to come back. " I said, "A year or two, huh?" He
said yeah. I said okay and left it at that. So I didn't really burn
any bridges behind me and I didn't really say anything. I just left it
alone. The last day I just went up and picked up my check, picked up
my fan mail, and picked up up pictures, you know, because I answer my
fan mail and do all that. So now I'm trying to get back with New Japan
because that's who I was loyal to. I'm trying to find out what's going
on with them and what they want to do now. I also wanted to work over
in Gemmany for a change. I had an opportunity to go right out of Japan
and right out of Mexico, but I was already gone from home for over a
year and I didn't want to make that move right away. After a whole
year, it's a long time to be away from home.
- Booking Prediction Tourney: I posted the ballot for King of The Ring
earlier this week. I'll have results for the Great American Bash
posted by Saturday.
- WWW: This post is presented weekly, presumably with some short delay,
on Mark Long's r.s.p-w home page on the Web. That page contains a lot
of interesting wrestling info, so give it a try at:
http://www.luc.edu/~mlong/wrestling.html
- Videos: I have posted something about the availability of videos.
If you missed it, I'll send it to you in e-mail upon request.
The VideoMarinepiad III home video is now available.
Herb...